In an empty lot just north of the Frogtown Curling Club on Wednesday morning, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her finally got to feel like a normal mayor.
Amid the acrid odor of heated asphalt, Her showcased a new tool in the city’s fight against what in any other year would be a top winter concern: potholes.
The chance to get hands-on with city operations was a welcome break from the national spotlight, including a subpoena from the Justice Department and a lawsuit against the federal government alleging the ongoing Operation Metro Surge has violated the First Amendment and other constitutional rights of city residents.
Her looked on as hardy public works employees showed off the Bagela asphalt recycler, turning chunks of old asphalt into a modified hot mix asphalt – not as good as the real thing, which is made in plants that can’t operate in the winter, but better than a temporary cold mix.
After learning the process, she filled several potholes herself, looking to her public works team for advice and feedback. (Head to W. Sycamore St. between Sylvan and Rice if you want to judge her work.)
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“One of the first things I said to our departments was that I wanted to look at the nuts and bolts of how we run our city,” Her told reporters.
And there are potholes to be filled. Officials compared the current state of the roads to the winter of 2022, when record-setting precipitation meant ample water seeping into cracks in the road, freezing, thawing and freezing again, blowing open giant potholes.
Asked about the tumult that has swept the Twin Cities in her first month as mayor, Her kept the focus local. She credited early efforts to restructure the mayor’s office with helping to balance the urgency of Operation Metro Surge with the ongoing, everyday needs of the city.
“I think it is really important for people to remember that we can do both,” Her said.
But not even the work of filling potholes has remained untouched by the massive federal presence in the city. Shawn Kershaw, director of public works, said that immigration agents recently detained a public works employee.
The man “had full legal right to work and they were detained based purely on their country of origin,” said Kershaw, who co-organized a fundraiser to support the employee and his wife.
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Around the same time Her filled potholes, her office released a statement about her meeting earlier in the day with White House border czar Tom Homan.
Her shared with Homan “the harm this surge is having in our city” and the importance of St. Paul’s immigrant community, the statement said. It concluded with her hopes for “concrete next steps” toward de-escalation.
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